Darkness Has Fallen
by Aoi Hoshi Chan
Summary: Iiiiiiit's a one-shot! ^_^ Vegeta's trying to sort something out before he blows himself up in the Buu saga. BUT - it's not what you think! (I don't think I did the italics right. *cries* Someone hellllp.....)


Disclaimer: All I own is a couple dollars I'm saving (Mini-con, here I come!), the spastic stories and random things I write, a can of blue hair dye that turned mine green, and a messenger bag made out of an old pair of jeans. The rest, my parents bought for me... and oh yes, DBZ is not mine. *pouts*  
  
A/N: Here's the deal. I really wanted to write a first Vegeta oneshot to get a grasp of his character. So I sit there thinking, "What could I write that wouldn't be too cliché, but wouldn't be so off-the-wall that people get freaked out?" This popped into my mind. It has most likely been done before... all I want you to keep in mind is that it isn't what you think. ^_^  
  
Darkness Has Fallen  
  
Yes, it hurt. More than anything. Everything I had ever experienced... it was nothing, (I)nothing(/I) like this. More than a thousand white- hot knives, piercing my very bone, my nerves screaming, pleading, for release. I was literally exploding in pain, with enough force to annihilate worlds, but concentrated into a single space for one purpose and one purpose only: to blow that monster into the next dimension and beyond. He will never again make his presence known here... I swear it.  
  
The humans say that when one dies, their life flashes before them. I know not whether they actually see their whole lives played before their eyes. It has always been one of my beliefs that it is something they dreamed up to comfort themselves in times of peril. Though I admit, death is not something to be taken lightly, no matter (I)how(/I) many times one may experience it, as the case may be. When one, human or no, comes face to face with their demise, it does force them to think a little about the kind of person they have been... their attitude to others. Their actions.  
  
I suppose I am as black as sin. The first time we met, my wife was terrified of me. Early on, when I was the sole source of her problems, she would remind me that she'd taken me in out of something called "the goodness of her heart." Of course, I retorted that I could just as easily have survived on this planet had I declined her offer... and yet I stayed, and to this day I am not completely sure why. It is, perhaps, that thing she calls love... Saiyajins have no word for it, and did not run around like fools confessing their emotions like the humans seem so apt to do. This is most likely the reason I find it so hard to wrap my mind around the concept. What was this thing that caused the humans to show their most vulnerable sides to the world? To distract them from being on alert at all times? To even give their very life in order to protect the object of their affections? Madness. It was surely madness!  
  
The Saiyajin is taught from birth to be a complete mystery to the enemy. Logic states that if they don't know your strong points, they also do not know your weaknesses. The Saiyajin must never show the opponent his attatchment to anything, lest it be taken to use against him. I, the Prince of the race, was taught that I must not let emotions show whatsoever, for I never knew who might be watching.  
  
Yet there is a warrior who has virtually no secrets... I hated Kakarott for so long. I (I)loathed(/I) him with every fiber of my being. The rage in me, controlled only by discipline, was directed at him for robbing me of the one victory I spent nearly all my life dreaming of - triumphing over that baka, Frieza, and avenging my lost planet and nearly extinct race - and of the Super Saiyajin power that was rightfully mine. I swore to myself so many times that I would utterly destroy him and make him beg for mercy before it ended... but of course, in all the fantasies of sweet victory I entertained, I never once showed him that mercy. I was the true Super Saiyajin, not he. I was the picture of ultimate power, a Saiyajin no Ouji that would have made my father proud. For so long I toyed with these little scenarios, but I never went for the real thing. I so longed to, but I knew the facts: He still surpassed me in power, and I may have my pride, but I am not stupid. I knew I would have to train harder and longer to beat him. So I did. I trained. And trained, and trained, and trained... and he was always running just out of my reach. It infuriated me. My rage seemed to grow all the more at eternally being second place.  
  
... and yet, in our battle on the day he returned, I struck and rendered him unconscious with one quick blow. Part of me screamed that now was my chance for all the visions I so enjoyed to become reality... but I took the Senzu beans and left him. What still puzzles me is that I do not regret my choice. It somehow felt right to stop worrying about the price he would pay and start focusing on the matter at hand. After all - and the thought drips with irony and brings an unbidden smirk to my face - if I killed him, who would I rule over?  
  
Though I would not admit this under torture, Kakarott knows a great deal of things for someone of his intelligence... things I may never completely grasp, but will never stop trying to prove that I understand. And I (I)will(/I) keep trying. I have not forgotten that I am going to die, and that this, now, is it... but this is not the end. The rest will wish me back. There are no doubts in my mind, even though there is no evidence to ensure me another chance. They have accepted me, in a way, and I know - their words and actions tell me... The woman says that going on someone's word is called "faith." I shall have to remember that.  
  
...Bulma. She is my (I)wife(/I) this woman who would not give up on me... And our son, Trunks. My lavender-haired heir. Both of us make ourselves known in the boy. He has my brow, and my strength, and my will, combined with her wits and her sapphire eyes. A Super Saiyajin at eight years of age!..... I am so proud of him...  
  
Yet I have failed them. The both of them. Time after time I told the woman, however flippantly, that I would be the father figure that she wanted for our son. After Kakarott sacrificed himself in the fight with Cell, she made me swear that I would not leave as he had. I do remember my exact words: "I will not leave you or the brat, woman. You both are (I)mine(/I) As it stands, (I)you(/I) cannot get rid of (I)me(/I). I promise you that much." And I remained stoic as she smiled.  
  
Today has shown, plain as day, that I am a liar. The Majin symbol on my head is proof enough. The fat grasshopper brought back the unquenchable thirst for blood so long ago buried in me, and I broke all those promises I made so solemnly...  
  
But I shall redeem myself.  
  
(I)I shall destroy the one that causes you all this pain.(/I)  
  
I am not taking chances this time. I will make him pay for what he has done, though it will cost me my life. He will (I)not(/I) come back.  
  
It will be worth it to see their shining faces upon my return to this dimension.  
  
For though it is a little late for me to realize, I do find myself caring for them. The human mate, the woman I chose above all others, and my half-human, half-Saiyajin son. I care for them. Yet... I cannot say this word for the emotion... not yet.  
  
(I)But you will see...(/I)  
  
And so, a bloody tear escaping my eye and streaming down my cheek, brow set with determination, and a cry ripping from my throat, I hold nothing back. This is what must be done... what I should have done long, long ago.  
  
And maybe that annoying, walking, talking, fighting, pink wad of bubble gum will be brought down with me.  
  
Things begin to glow, more brilliantly and brightly than I have ever seen, and then to fade all around me.  
  
He is falling, and there is only one thing I am certain of.  
  
The Dark Prince shall (I)not(/I) return.  
  
~*Owari*~  
  
A/N: Did I get the point across? *sweatdrop* I always thought that Vegeta kind of had more than one personality - the reformed-but-still- Bad-Man that we all love, and the Dark Prince that he was. I attempted to make it sound as if he was talking about sending Buu to the next dimension, but was really fighting his inner villain. I tried to do a twist ending, because I love those (Candyland writes some AWESOME twists!), but I'm not sure if I did it right. *hand behind head* Meh.  
  
Review... onegaaaaaaaaiiiiiii??? ^_^ 


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